Agent says goalkeeper is grateful to Inverness Caledonian Thistle for helping him become a professional footballer as he looks to continue career elsewhere
/MUSA Dibaga will always be grateful to Inverness Caledonian Thistle for giving him his first opportunity of becoming a professional footballer.
His agent Mark Agg-Jones says even though his client’s future is not at the League One club, he will always appreciate the chance they gave him to play football full time.
He says that Dibaga is now looking to use his experience from last season and continue his pathway further into the professional game.
It was confirmed by Inverness Caledonian Thistle yesterday that the 24-year-old had rejected a new deal to remain at the Caledonian Stadium next season.
Speaking to the Inverness Courier on Tuesday, Agg-Jones said Dibaga was interested at staying at the club, but felt the conditions offered could not meet his aspirations to develop as a player.
However, he said it was with a heavy heart Dibaga decided to leave Inverness, but he will always be grateful of the opportunity he received last season.
Agg-Jones said: “He loved the fans and the support they and the club gave him. He loved how people around the town made him feel. This time last year he didn’t have a job and now he is playing football.
“His immediate aspirations are modest, but we want to make sure he continues his pathway and I will do everything in my power to make it happen. But he wants to be challenged and become the goalkeeper he is capable of being.
“I can’t emphasise how grateful he is to Caley Thistle for giving him a chance.”
Dibaga arrived at Inverness Caledonian Thistle in August last year with his only previous experience of football in Scotland in the Lowland League with Bo’Ness United and Whitehill Welfare.
He was originally brought in as back-up to Jack Newman who was on loan from Dundee United.
However, after Newman suffered an injury, Dibaga took his chance and became the club’s number one and impressed throughout the campaign to help Inverness avoid relegation despite a 15-point deduction as they finished in seventh place.
Dibaga was named Inverness Caledonian Thistle fans’ player of the year and he was also called up to the Gambia squad for their World Cup qualifying matches with Kenya and Ivory Coast in March.
Agg-Jones said while they were keen to discuss a new deal with Caley Thistle, Dibaga felt the offer lacked the opportunities to continue his development as a player at the club and were among the reasons he decided to leave.
He said: “He is very sensible and knows what he wants. He just wants to play football and has a real hunger and drive.
“We did our best to try and make sure he could stay at Inverness, but unfortunately, we couldn’t get it to work.
“That came down to a few things, the package had to be right but it didn’t have to be brilliant, it should be modest.
“Second, he needed to have the goalkeeping coach support and imperatively, the team was set up with a view of winning the league and being champions.
“That included being challenged by other goalkeepers for the position and having the right coaching facilities. In the second half of last season, he didn’t have a permanent goalkeeper coach. That is not going to help him to aspire to the level he wants.
“At present they are not out of administration and start next season with a five point deduction. It was about him wanting to be challenged and it was with a heavy heart that he made this decision. The club tried everything they could, but we couldn’t get an agreement and that is all there is to it.
“I hope we have made the right decision, but time will tell. I will back Musa whereever he goes and I hope he continues to develop his football. But he needs the conditions around him to be spot on.”
Agg-Jones says a number of clubs in England have shown interest in signing Dibaga and envisages his future will be south of the border next season.
He said: “We have had one English Premiership Club, one English League One club and two English League Two clubs that have shown interest.
“We are not there at the moment, but that didn’t influence the position we took.
“I couldn’t advise him what was on the table was the right decision at Inverness. Our hearts were at ICT, but when you are getting that kind of interest, I wouldn’t be doing my job if we didn’t explore that interest.”
